The Mysterious Ruby
by Delurium
Summary: What happens when a magical gem is given to a normal gal? What will she do? Quick, read and find out.
1. Chapter 1

Haelia Dhur disliked drunken men, especially on nights in the fishing village of Hla Oad. Sometimes, as the proud owner of Dhur's Drinks, she frustrated over her loud customers. But then again, it was her customers, and it was her bar and their money, so sometimes she thought anything was okay as long as her customers did empty their pockets in her place.

Now, this isn't to say that a professional woman like Haelia Dhur wasn't also young and beautiful. On the contrary, she was a pretty Nord with long blonde hair wreathed over her slender shoulders. When she served her drinks, men in her bar remembered her for her appealing thighs. And, she was only 17.

You could also say that she was an ambitious woman. But then, there were those days when the customers all left, and it was deep and dark into the night, and she'd regret standing there behind the counter dreaming about how her life would be different if she had just done what every other lusty woman did her age. She wished she wasn't so dedicated to her business.

This night, though, there was an odd customer. Across the counter, a middle-aged dunmer with a dark red robe stood. Haelia Dhur noticed he was breathing heavily, beads of sweat raining down his face.

"You're not buying a drink, are you?" She said.

His motion was sluggish, he moaned rather than spoke, "Hold this!" He whispered. He handed her an object the size of a walnut.

"What is it?" She asked.

The man said nothing.

Suddenly, there was a storm outside. A group of black cloaks entered. They came in, these black cloaks, and they pulled the dunmer from the stool where he stood. Soon, the man and the black cloaks pulling him were gone.

Afterwards, she was left with the glowing object. "What is it?" She said to herself.


	2. Chapter 2

And so, as was typical of her routine, she went to bed right after the bar closed. Tucked away, the gem glowed red in the old cabin behind the bar, where Haelia sleeped. She awoke later that night to a series of small noises, as she was a light sleeper. Was that a noise? She thought. A clunk came from the bar. Something was being thrown, or searched. Her heart began pumping harder. Oh gods, she thought!

She quietly climbed off her bed. She listened to the noises, trying to separate them out. She gasped, there must be at least four separate noises from her bar. Four men, she thought. Four thieves!

She thought of escaping, but her cabin was connected to her bar, and there was no way out of her cabin without going through her bar. "Oh, alymsivi!" She said, and then she thought of a daring escape plan. An amulet of alymsivi intervention was on top of her counter. If only she could get there she could whisk away without getting caught.

She carefully edged before the door, and peered to see where the thieves were. She listened quietly, and when there was no one directly in front of her, she let the door open. Slowly! She cried, but the door made a creak. The sounds stopped and all eyes must have looked at her.

Suddenly, many footsteps were moving in the dark.

Haelia scrambled for the counter, reaching for the intervention. She could hear the footsteps near, and a dark shadow was descending on her nearby. She ran her hands on the counter, knocking glass and bottles of exquisite flin. Hands were on her when she finally caught it. "Got it!" She said. She put it to her heard and whispered, "Rescue me! Alymsivi!"

Suddenly, the scene changed from her dark bar to a candlelit oval room near the temple of azura's awakening. There was a person nearby.


	3. Chapter 3

"Hello, child." An elderly man dressed in monkish attire said. Haelia faintly noticed that she herself wasn't dressed in the right cloth for the occasion. She slept with only bare briefs, and they didn't cover her thighs.

"Ahh!" She cried. The elder man removed his robe and gave it to Haelia. "Thank you." She said.

"What is your name? And what is the problem that brought you here so late?"

"Haelia Dhur, and the problem is this," she said, as she reached absently for her gem. Her gem! She must have left it back in the bar, along with the rest of her cloth. "I can't find it." But then, she felt an odd warm object tucked away between her breasts and her bra. She felt somewhat foolish as she reached for it.

Out came the object, glowing bright red. It was warm. The gem was shaped like a red ruby, but it glowed. "Here it is." She said. She handed it to the priest. The priest didn't respond. She noticed something about the priest – the holy man was blushing.

For a long time, the priest held the object to his face. "It is a soul gem," he said, "It contains a very lively soul. It can be used to enchant a weapon, or any article of clothing. Do you wish anything to be enchanted?" He said.

"Oh, no, no," Haelia said. "I just wished to know what it is. Thank you!" She grabbed it and began leaving. She stopped, "Here's your robe…"

"You can keep it, child."

"Thank you!" She said, smiling. As she neared the door, several figures clad in black stood, their silhouettes waiting for her. Haelia Dhur turned around, "Ah, father?"

"Yes?"

"Hide me!" She said. She thought of her business, and she thought of whether or not she could fight them. Perhaps, she thought, but then one against four, she didn't stand a chance. She was more of a merchant. And the priest appeared too old.

The older man stared at the dark characters in the shadows outside. His eyes were compassionate. He was quick to learn. "Come!" He said. They ran through the dark candlelit temple. They passed several dark halls. "Come here!" He said. He showed her into a room at the far side of the hall. After she entered, he locked the door.

Haelia Dhur could hear faint footsteps outside. "They're coming in," she said. Haelia could hear them throttling the door, wondering why its locked.

"Quick!" Said Haelia, "Enchant something!"

The older man looked puzzled. What do you mean? His expression said.

"Enchant something with the gem!"

The old man understood. Perhaps the power within the gem could save them from the dark shadows crawling outside. "Okay," he said, "I'm not too sure it'll work. I've never done this without preparation."

"But you have done it, right?" her voice wavered.

"Many times," he assured her. She handed him the gem. He looked puzzled. "What do you want to enchant?"

She looked around; she didn't have an article of clothing on her. "Enchant me."

He began a series of incantations. He spoke something in daedric. The gem stopped glowing.

"Well?"

"I don't know. Nothing is different." Said Haelia Dhur. Just then, the door broke loose and several dark figures stood in the doorway. They grabbed onto Haelia's slender shoulders. "Do not intefere," they said to the priest.


	4. Chapter 4

They brought her out of the temple and into the morning dusk. "Where is the gem?" Said the leader.

She gave it back. "Good," the dark cloaked figure said. Then, one of her captors pulled out an amulet. Haelia realized that it was an amulet of recall, and knowingly, she waited.

The scene changed. The appearance of fog and early morning in Hla Oad was soon smothered by a dark cavern. She appeared to be in some type of rocky hallway. In front of her, she could see the exit of the cavern. The exit glowed a reddish hue, just like the ruby soul gem did. For the first time, she caught a look of her captors. They were dunmer with fiery eyes, blue greenish skin, and nostrils that had too much hair. At the same time, she could smell this grotesque stink from her captors. The leading one murmured something harsh, and the rest grunted back. _Where am I_? She thought.

They lead her through the entrance to a voluminous fire pit. "Oh no!" She cried, as the flames curled smoke upwards and crashing waves of boiling crimson flew over every crevice and rock beneath. "No!" don't throw me. She suddenly wished she hadn't enchanted herself with the soul gem.

A rumble emanated from beneath.

"Where is my consort's soul?" It rumbled. It was a heavy godlike voice.

"Here," the leading cloaked figure said, as he raised the ruby gem for all to see.

"Ahh, yes." Said the fire pit. "Have it closer. Finally, I am reunited with the love of my life. Bring it closer. For the years I've searched for you. You were hidden by a devious magician! Now, he is dead. You and I are once more! Bring it closer, slave!"

The leading figure walked forward, feeling proud of himself. He lifted his hand straight into the air. On it was the ruby. Haelia Dhur remembered that the soul was not in the gem. And then she thought, _Did the PIT say consort?_ There was a rumble. The wall shook. "There is nothing here!"

"I… I… I'm sorry, your godliness!" Stammered the figure. Suddenly, flames spiraled upwards from below. It engulfed the figure. It appeared the fire pit was angry.

"Where is the soul?" It rumbled.

Haelia Dhur suddenly felt a need to speak out. "I have the soul."

"You?" Said the walls. "Come closer."

Haelia Dhur walked to the fire pit, nearer to the edge.

"Well!" The walls said, "You do have the soul! – Prepare the wedding ceremony!" It said to the other dunmer. They began to scatter, preparing things for the ceremony.

Haelia Dhur jumped. "Wait…! Whaaaat?" she stammered. "Whose wedding?"

"Your wedding!"

Haelia was dumbfounded. "With who?"

"Me!" Suddenly, a large beast appeared twenty feet tall. It had a reddish glow, scales, fire wreathing from its nostrils, and on top of that, two big round horns from the side of its head. The smell of this beast was copper and sulfite.

"And who the devil are you?" Screamed Haelia Dhur.

"I am Molag Bal." The beast smiled, a hideous wretching curve on its sizzling face. It moved closer, "At last, you will marry me, darling!" As it moved, its bulging muscles ripped through the suffocating air above the fire pit.

"No!" cried Haelia Dhur.

Haelia Dhur turned around and ran out of the pit. She sprint through the dunmer slaves, who quickly moved out of the way. They didn't want to interfere with any household crisis that involved Molag Bal. She sprinted through the long cave, and out into the morning sunlight.


	5. Chapter 5

She stopped. _Where am I?_ She thought. The rocks were no way similar to Hla Oad, and on top of that, she saw a mountain. A mountain! _I could be anywhere!_ Suddenly, she felt this energy from inside her. _Whoa!_ She said. It felt like she could run a million miles. She quickly began sprinting in a downhill direction. She moved and moved, and before long, she had reached a town much like Balmora.

She interrogated the nearest pedestrian, "Where am I?" She said.

The woman looked at her puzzlingly, "Suran," and walked away.

Haelia Dhur ran to the nearest place to sit. She entered a place called "Earthly Delights." She quickly realized the bar scene, and thought about how similar it was to her own restaurant in Hla Oad. Except, she didn't employ erotic dancers.

She seated herself on a stool. Nearby, a local Khajit befriended her. "Hello. What'sss a pretty girl like you doing her?" It purred.

"I'm getting married." She moaned. Several random heads turned towards her, but seeing nothing interesting except a pretty girl with panic on her face, they turned back towards the dancers. _Oh, if you only you knew who I was getting married to. _

"Oh, the frights, I see." Said the Khajit.

"Well, whom are you getting married to?" Said the barmaid, who was watching her curiously.

Haelia Dhur wondered if she should speak. Would they think she's crazy, or dreaming? At last, she said, "Molag Bal."

The Khajit purred, "You mean the god?"

"Yes." Said Haelia Dhur.

"Ha!" Said the Khajit, who quickly returned to his own business, whatever that may be.

The barmaid, however, was still a bit curious, "And Molag Bal? Is he a good man?" She asked sarcastically.

"I hardly know him."

"Is he handsome?"

"Um…" Haelia smiled. "Yeah."

The barmaid laughed along, obviously joking. "A man like that, a god, must have an awful lot of power."

"Oh, he sure does," said Haelia, remembering how he had burned the slave who had brought the wrong gem. At that, the barmaid smiled and ran away, obviously ending the conversation and thinking that Haelia was a delirious idiot.

_Then again, why am I not marrying him? _Haelia Dhur envisioned herself doing whatever gods do on their honeymoon. She quivered. _Oh, dear Alemlexia! _She thought.

Just then, a great loud rumble sounded beneath. _An Earthquake!_ She thought. Everyone began to leave the building. Haelia Dhur was last. When she came out, everyone was stunned, as if too afraid to move. "What's going on?" She said.

"Look." Said the barmaid, wide-eyed.

And there he was. A big creature 100 feet tall, standing with his foot on a building and glowering over the streets of Suran. His powerful muscles thrashed through the air and building tension in his voice. A bloodthirsty scream compounded with the sound of great droplets of sweat as they splattered on Suran, "Haelia Dhur! Where are you?"

_Oh my god! Oh my god! _She cried. _He's out there looking for me!_

Just then, Molag Bar, the 100 foot god, reached down to grab hold of a screaming Khajit. It ripped apart its bones and ate the cat whole. Haelia could hear the bones crunching.

Just then, the crowd gathering outside thought to react. They ran backwards into the restaurant. Haelia was left out there with the barmaid, who still stood stunned. Then, even the barmaid began to move. As she moved, she gave one stunned look at Haelia and said, "You weren't joking, were you?"

"No," said Haelia Dhur.

"Just… Just… get away from here, please!" And then Haelia Dhur heard the door behind close shut and locked.

As Molag Bal began reaching for another mer, Haelia made her decision. She had finally decided she _would_ marry the monster. Haelia Dhur suddenly remembered that she wanted to be in love. _Well, now is the perfect time, she thought._ She shouted, "Over here, honey!"

Molag Bal dropped the man, who fell twenty feet onto a house and broke every bone in his body. "There you are!" It roared.

Before Haelia Dhur could react, it had already appeared above her. It reached for her, it's giant demonic hands gently grabbing hold onto her and raising her up into the air. Molag Bal smiled a deadly smile.

"Put me down! Get your hands of me." Said Haelia Dhur. Molag Bal waited, then decided to listen. He gently put her down.

"First of all," said Haelia Dhur, "I have several demands!"

The Demon waited, surprised.

"Number one, no eating other people!"

The demon groaned. "Okay."

"Number two, no scorching other people!"

The demon waited impatiently. "Fine." Its voice resonated in the ground beneath.

Haelia Dhur ignored it. "Number three, I don't know what you're thinking of doing on our honeymoon, but we are NOT doing it, mister!"

At this, the demon trembled in agony. Its tremendous ears seemed to curl downwards. Its face appeared on the verge of depression. "You… you can't do that!" It cried.

"Oh, I am doing it, whether you like it or not. Now, do you want to marry me?"

For a while, it muttered something. Then, it sighed, "Yes."

"Good, now lets get married." Said Haelia Dhur.

The demon smiled, a very docile smile. It picked Haelia Dhur up with its gentle hands. Suddenly, Haelia could hear bone crunching beneath.

"What did I just say?" Haelia Dhur said, arrogantly.

"Sorry," it replied. "I won't do it, again." This time, the monster slowly and carefully planted its steps through Suran, careful not to step on any living thing.

Slowly, they made pace back towards the mountains. And so forth lived happily ever after.


End file.
